This invention concerns a process for the production of an etheramine alkoxylate that may be used in a fuel composition containing a petroleum fuel.
Petroleum distillates have long been used as fuels for internal combustion engines. In recent years, research has been directed toward preparing fuel compositions containing additive which acts as a surface-active agent for improving fuel distribution to prevent poor driving performance due to the maldistribution of fuel-air mixture between the cylinders. Etheramine alkoxylates have been found utility in such fuel compositions. Owing to the interest in these compounds, improved methods of production are desirable.
The inventors herein recognized that higher amines were difficult to alkoxylate. Typically, water has been used to catalyze the reaction. It has been found that the reaction is still somewhat slow under the normal operation temperature, despite use of water as the reaction catalyst. If the temperature is raised to force the reaction to proceed faster, however, the corresponding glycol, an unwanted by-product, would be produced in a significant quantity. A faster reaction that does not produce large quantities of unwanted by-product glycols would be highly desirable.